Air traffic, both private and commercial, continues to increase. With this increase, there has been a concomitant increase in the likelihood of runway incursions. Efforts are thus being made to increase aircraft flight crew awareness during ground operations. As part of this effort, various systems have been developed that, among other functions, provide aural alerts to an aircraft flight crew when the aircraft approaches a runway. Although quite useful in increasing flight crew awareness, it does not provide visual situational awareness to the flight crew.
In an effort to improve aural-only systems, a system that combines both visual and aural awareness during ground operations has been developed. This system allows for the generation of airport maps on multi-function displays (MFDs). Although quite useful for modern aircraft, this system may not be practical for use in aircraft that do not already include one or more MFDs, since retrofitting aircraft with MFDs can be space and/or cost prohibitive.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method of displaying airport maps in an aircraft without having to retrofit the aircraft with new and/or additional displays. The present invention addresses at least this need. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.